Farmers have until the end of the day on March 31 to elect which USDA farm program they want to participate in for the five-year life of the new 2014 Farm Bill. The choices are Agriculture Risk Coverage-County, Agricultural Risk Coverage-Individual or Price Loss Coverage. March 31 also is the deadline for landowners to reallocate base acres and update their FSA program yields,

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today provided farm owners and producers one additional week, until April 7, 2015, to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), the safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The final day to update yield history or reallocate base acres also will be April 7, 2015.

First, for the decade from fiscal year 2015 through 2024, mandatory government spending for agriculture — including conservation and crop insurance programs — is expected to average substantially less than the average for the prior two decades.

"On this National Agriculture Day, we acknowledge the impact of American agriculture on our daily lives and our nation's economy. We thank the scientists, conservationists, farmers and ranchers dedicated to the work that feeds the nation and helps to keep us safe.

Ohio leads the nation in the export of animal genetics including germplasm, embryos and live animals. And, of course, those genetics have to get to their destination somehow. The business of transporting animals internationally is wrought with complexities and global scale hassles of every kind, but the potential future benefits to Ohio agriculture through genetic exports are significant.